Operating in partnership with Postmates, the vans are outfitted with lockers accessible via
“Research vehicles for our business pilots are designed to appear as self-driving; however, they are manually driven by an experienced driver,” Ford wrote this week in a post on Medium. “The focus of our research is on the first and last mile of the delivery experience.”
Earlier this year, Ford deployed a separate fleet of
The idea behind the new Postmates vans, Ford says, is to determine how consumers will interact with a driverless delivery car. What happens when there’s no human driver to bring food to a doorstep?
Ford’s solution is touchscreens, lockers,
“Ultimately, through our partnership with Postmates, we’re testing methods for efficient deliveries to help local businesses expand their reach and provide a seamless experience to customers,” Ford said on Medium.
The company’s publicity materials have boasted that driverless cars mean tip-less deliveries. The Medium post encourages Miamians to “jump at the chance to contribute to the future of delivery.”
Left unsaid: the loss of work for Miami’s already underpaid delivery drivers when the cars go truly driverless.